Green Tea, Rice and Lilies
by KotoriTsubaki
Summary: Phoebe was always different than the other girls. It was made especially clear when Calvin broke her heart and left Phoebe behind to pursue his career. But the new farmer on Castanet Island could change all that. He is soon captivated by Phoebe's intelligence, quirkiness & finds her to be a beautiful woman. Will Phoebe open her heart and give in to her feelings for Yuuki?


Chapter 1

Phoebe was different. And she knew it perfectly well. Unlike the other girls on the land of Castanet, she thought she wasn't capable of much talent. Phoebe couldn't harvest and plant crops like Anissa or understand animals like Renee. She couldn't even sow clothes like Candance, manage a business much like Luna; heck she wasn't even as outgoing and bubbly as Kathy or Maya. An unlike Selena the talented dancer, Phoebe had two left feet and couldn't dance to save her life. But you know what? Phoebe didn't care. Sure, she was a little awkward and babbled on and on about her passion for science and math but it didn't matter to her. She took pride in her education, and hoped to become a world class inventor someday.

Despite everything, Phoebe was a little envious of her dear friends. After all, they were very pretty girls who weren't shy and quiet at all. At times, Phoebe felt like a little turtle curled up inside her shell around other people as she afraid to interact and anxious of messing something up. Though her friends loved her very much, they knew Phoebe kept mostly to herself in the Garmon Mines looking for material to use in her inventions. Of course, Phoebe was thankful they respected her privacy and still found time in her schedule to visit her friends.

Lately, life on Castanet had been a little sad for everyone. The fires weren't running very well, the weather on the island wasn't exactly cheerful and the crops on Marimba farm had not been growing as well as they did. Though life was a little slow, Phoebe still managed to help out at the general store where her parents are in charge.

Her mother, Barbara, oversaw the general store while her father, Simon, had his own photography studio in Harmonica Town. Phoebe mostly helped at the general store and she didn't mind much. Her parents, especially her father, worried about her a little too often as Phoebe has been known to get obsessed and focused on her tasks so much, she would easily lose track of time. So to make up for her distractions, Phoebe would help her beloved parents as much as she could.

Unfortunately for Phoebe, she had been so enticed with a new idea for an invention that she ended up sleeping at the Garmon Mines for a few days. Once Phoebe realized how long she was in the mines, her luck began to worsen.

"Oh no!" Phoebe panted after trying to move a boulder out of the way. "This rock just fell on the entrance and I'm stuck here."

She huffed and stomped back towards her small camp she had made close to ruins of the supposed Harvest King who lived on Castanet a long time ago. She slid down the wall, folded her arms and sighed in frustration.

 _How am I going to get out of here?_ She thought to herself. That boulder wouldn't budge with her strength so Phoebe would need a hammer to break it. Phoebe mentally slapped herself for forgetting some of her tools back home and shrugged. She looked at her watch and saw that it was pretty late at night. Owen, the grandson of the blacksmith near the mines, would be back in the morning and could hopefully break her out of the cave.

Phoebe then snuggled into her sleeping bag and decided to call it a night. She prayed and promised to the Harvest Goddess that she would be home as soon as she was out of the cave, hoping her parents weren't too worried about her. With that, Phoebe closed her eyes and wandered into her dreams before a loud explosion abruptly woke her.

The scientist bolted upright and scrambled in the dark looking for her red glasses. Fear came over her as Phoebe thought the mines were caving in and she had to get out fast. Once she quickly looked around to her surroundings, Phoebe realized that the mines weren't about to cave in and that the explosion came from outside. She took a few deep breaths and managed to compose herself from the scare she had just received.

As Phoebe took off her glasses to clean them off, Phoebe suddenly heard the melody of the red bell in the mines. The tune was cheery and reassuring and immediately helped Phoebe relax, almost as if to let her know that help was on the way.

 _The bell hasn't been rung in such a long time_ , Phoebe thought to herself looking up at the ceiling. _I wonder who rang the bell? The Harvest Goddess maybe?_

Before she could dwell on the matter any further, Phoebe heard the booming voice of Owen coming from the floor above her.

"…yeah…the bell…hammer…" She heard Owen say as he came down to the ninth floor. Phoebe heard another pair of footsteps that accompanied Owen's and realized there was more help on the way and her adrenaline kicked in quickly.

"Owen!" Phoebe called out, hoping her yelling didn't cause a cave in.

"…Phoebe?" Owen asked loudly. "Is that you? Where are you?!"

"I'm on the floor below" Phoebe called back. "A boulder fell and got caught in the entrance down here! Please help me!"

"Whoa…" Owen said. "…go…you…take hammer… get…her…?" She heard Owen talk to whoever was there with him.

"What? Can't you please help me out?"

Silence. Then before Phoebe could protest, a crack echoed throughout the mine followed by a couple more smashes and soon, the boulder blocking the entrance cracked away. Phoebe shielded her face away from the falling pieces of rock coming her way and sighed deeply running to her savior.

"Oh jeez, thank you Owen—"

Phoebe had been expecting to see Owen coming down the stairs but instead, saw a young man whom she had never met before, walking towards her. Once Phoebe got a good at this unknown person, she felt her heat skip a beat and began to feel her blood pump faster.

As the young man came into view, she saw that he had spiky brown hair, slicked back in a messy manner. He also had light brown eyes that were tilted upwards and shone with warmth and kindness. The young man had a cool demeanor about him, yet his presence evoked a strong aura of friendliness. Once he came into full view of Phoebe, she froze and squeaked unintentionally as she realized that the mysterious man was very good-looking.

Phoebe felt her heart beat faster than her machines could work, and placed them over her heart thinking that it was pumping loudly. Phoebe knew she wasn't great with strangers, yet this feeling was much different than ever before. Her heart was going crazy and Phoebe stood stiff as the young man stood in front of her, grinning.

"You okay?" He asked in a deep and comforting voice. He leaned on the hammer and looked over at her makeshift camp.

Again, Phoebe squeaked, embarrassed for some reason. "I-I…I'm okay! Thank you! I don't live here or anything! I just…come here and…lose track of time."

Her voice faded, feeling ashamed of the scene this young man had just witnessed behind her. She shook her head and bowed and thanked the man for breaking the boulder, and Phoebe avoided his gaze at all costs.

The young man chuckled. "That's good! Let's get you out of here. My name is Yuuki, what's yours?"

He looked over at her with his big, brown eyes and Phoebe felt her face flush pink.

"I'm Phoebe," she said trying to muster up some confidence.

"Nice to meet ya! I'm the new farmer here on Castanet," Yuuki said. "I got the bell on the pedestal thanks to Owen and his family!"

"You rang the bell?" Phoebe asked, momentarily forgetting her embarrassment.

Yuuki nodded. "Yeah. It sounded nicely huh? Can't wait till the other bells ring."

"What?" Phoebe said in puzzlement.

The farmer laughed it off and simply replied, "You'll see soon enough." And he gave her the same grin that made Phoebe's heart palpitate wildly. She looked away, but was blinded by the sun's rays as they had both returned outside.

After getting used to the light, Phoebe felt Yuuki's gaze on her and she quickly became a nervous wreck again.

"Thank you for helping me," Phoebe said timidly. "I can't thank you enough for what you did."

Yuuki smiled at her and waved it off. "No worries, I'm glad you're okay! But your mom did tell me she was a little worried about you. She works at the general store right?"

Phoebe gasped. "Oh my gosh! I really need to get going now, I'm sorry. My parents must be worried."

The scientist quickly thanked the farmer again and jogged back to her family's general store. As soon as she entered the store, her mother threw her arms around Phoebe and began thanking the Harvest Goddess for her return.

"Sorry Mom," Phoebe said chuckling nervously. "I lost track of time again."

"Well, I'm glad that young man was able to bring you back!" her mother exclaimed happily. "Did you know he's the new farmer? I can't believe someone would move into…"

Phoebe soon let her mother rant on and on about what went on while she was gone. It was almost as if Phoebe hadn't been stuck in the mines for days at a time, but then again that was how Barbara was. While her continued talking and Phoebe took a seat at the kitchen table, she noticed Yuuki walking outside and their gazes met.

The young farmer smiled at her kindly and waved, as he went back to his farmland. Phoebe felt her face get red and waved back shyly. She soon realized that her heart hadn't been this excited in a long time and wondered if this experience was connected to _him_. Phoebe shook the thought of _him_ out of her mind for now, and began picking at her rice plate, suddenly wondering if Yuuki had anything to eat.

Once again, Phoebe shook away the thought and dived back into her favorite food. She didn't want to think about that; all she wanted was a goodnight's sleep. _If the feeling persists_ , Phoebe thought to herself, _I will ask for help and see if it's the same as_ …him. Slowly, Phoebe forgot about her most recent experience and began chatting happily with her mother on her findings in the Garmon Mines.


End file.
